Where Loyalty Lies
by Frozenmug
Summary: Where does your Loyalty lie? For Jared and Mako, skilled scout troopers in the Galactic Empire, their loyalty belongs to their emperor and to each other. But when deployed on a bloodthirsty conquest to a rebel occupied world, the soldiers will find their dedication questioned. When the rules are out the window and the lines are blurred, how far are you willing to go?


Chapter 1

Jared's mind was swimming. There was noise. Watery noise that he could make no sense of. Where was he? He tried to think. His mind stinging and burning through the deafening buzz around him. He tried to open his eyes but all he saw was darkness. He fought harder, and the buzz began to clear. His eyes began to open, blurry at first, then slowly began to clear. He could make out the metal platform, and realized he was right side up, sitting up properly. His ears began fixing themselves, focusing and taking in the world properly. He could hear voices, cheering, yelling. Where was he? Then his eyesight focused, and he found himself kneeling on a metal platform slightly above a crowd of cheering people.

He blinked several times to clear his vision before realizing his arms were tied behind his back. His helmet had been removed and was laying before him, the dented and dirty white helmet staring up at him. His chest was burning and he looked down to see the scorched black hole in his army from the blaster rifle. The burnt flesh beneath his jumpsuit was obviously the source of his pain, but his mind was too occupied to think of that.

He managed to turn his stiff neck to the left and saw 4 other troopers. 3 of them were stormtroopers, and one other scout trooper like him. The crowd of rebels stared at them, bloodthirsty eyes burning into his soul. He fought the rope that bound his wrists to no avail. Then, the man walked onto stage.

He was an enormous man, with dark skin and long hard tied into a braid. A huge knife hung at his side and a utility bandolier of grenades was slung across his jacketed chest. His shoulders were wide and powerful His goggles covered his eyes, but Jared knew if he could see them that they would be raging and evil.

Jared made eye contact with the other scout. They said nothing, their months of service together had created a bond between them that allowed them to communicate somewhat effectively without the need for words. He stared at the soldier, Mako, and gave her a look saying; "What happened?"

Mako shook her head quickly, trying to have the rebels not notice. But the guard standing at the rear of the stage did notice, and drove his brown boot into Mako's unarmored lower back.

"Imperial trash" the rebel growled as he stepped back. He darted his eyes about, surveying the situation. They were on a stage in a forest. It might have not been a stage, maybe just the foundation of an ancient building. This part of the world was littered with the remains of an ancient civilization.

The dusk sky seemed to be darkening at an alarming rate. Jared tried to remember, they had been on patrol and-

"Brothers and sisters" the huge rebel shouted towards the crowd. The gathered people responded with whooping and roaring. "Today I am proud to have led you into battle and triumph over these imperial dogs." Jared's heart hammered. The rebel stepped in beside the furthest hostage. The trooper had awoken, and his eyes were filled with terror.

The rebel drew the huge blade knife from his belt, and flicked a switch. A vibrosword. Jared knew that the blade would be vibrating thousands of time a second, turning it into an incredibly dangerous weapon. Jared moved with writs to where he thought his utility belt would be, found the edge of his back armor, and began rubbing the robe against it. His shoulders ached from the awkward movement, but this needed to be done.

"Now, to celebrate our victory, you have the privilege of watching these dogs die." The crowd erupted into cheering and Jared's arms moved faster, hoping he was making some kind of damage to the rope. A camouflage clad rebel stepped up behind the furthest stormtrooper and put his boot to the soldier's back, tipping his head forward. With one fast swing, the sword cut through his neck and severed his head, soaking the stage in front of him in blood.

The decapitated soldier fell over, his dirty white armor drenched in warm fluid. _We're farkled if I don't get this_ Jared thought. Suddenly he heard something, the familiar, distant sound of blaster fire. None of the rebels in the crowd took notice however, they continued to shout and cheer, demanding blood. Jared's arms burned, threatening to give out. His arm slipped, and his wrists parted. He sighed with relief, but kept his wrists pressed together. He couldn't let the rebels know he was free. He glanced at Mako. She was biting her lip, and Jared noticed she was doing the same as he was.

Jared looked up and saw the huge rebel raise the blade once again, ready to bring it down through the neck of the next hostage. Then, time seemed to slow down as 2 quick blaster cannon bolts struck the stage and showered the occupants with sparks and debris. There were screams, and Jared seized the opportunity. He leapt to his feet, feeling his stiff knees pop from the sudden exertion. He heard the sound of yelling and blaster fire. His hands were free but he was unarmed.

His heart rate exploded as a blaster bolt narrowly missed his head. He spun around to see a camouflage clad rebel bull-rushing him with a DH-17 in hand. Jared wasted no time. He dashed forward, catching the rebel off guard. He reached out with his gloved hand, catching the rebel's jacket collar and drove his arm forward from his shoulder. His armored elbow caught the rebel on the tip of the nose and there was a crunch as it broke. He screamed as Jared moved to the side, grabbing the rebel's arm and violently rotating it one direction. The rebel's grip loosened and he released the blaster pistol. He caught the blaster and looked out over the scene.

Mako had broken free. She was currently engaged in an aggressive grappling match with a rodian rebel. Beneath the stage, a battle was unfolding. Rebels were sprinting for cover as 2 huge walkers strode into the forest clearing. The AT-ST's were filthy. Covered in mud, soot, and dented metal. Despite their damaged appearance, they were the greatest thing Jared had seen since he woke up. Jared raised the blaster and squeezed the trigger quickly. He fired a single bolt skillfully through the air that struck the rodian in the side of the head.

Mako fell in beside Jared as they dashed to cover behind a tree. The sound of battle rang out around them. There was multiple clunking sounds in quick succession as the walker fired a volley of impact grenades into the bush. The explosions vaporized plants and dismembered any rebels caught in the blast. As fast as the battle had started, it ended.

The two scout troopers stepped out from behind the tree. Jared scooped his helmet off the ground, surprised that it had survived the battle. The 2 scout walkers stood there. Rotating their cabins and scanning the smoldering forest. He looked down into the visor lens of his helmet. The dark glass was not cracked luckily. The white painted helmet was very dirty. He rubbed his gloved thumb against the dirt and it came off in a streak.

"You alright?" Mako smacked Jared's shoulder pad.

"Yeah I'm good" Jared nodded. The two scout troopers lowered themselves down from the platform onto the soft, earthy ground. One of the two AT-ST walkers halted its movement, and there was a clang as the roof hatch opened. The grey clad driver stood up from the inside of the walker, half his body above the hatch.

"Thought we lost you two" the driver shouted down at them. Jared chuckled to himself.

"You're never gonna get rid of us that easily." Jared shouted back. Even from a distance, Jared saw the driver smile.

"The main assault force has pushed into the city just north of here. After last night's raid on our main camp the general's gotten impatient with our lack of progress." The driver told them. It all came back to Jared now. They had been camped out at point Epsilon at the southern edge of the forest. There had been maybe 50 soldiers. 4 squads of stormtroopers, 6 shock troopers and a few scout troopers, including Jared and Mako.

The attack had occurred in the middle of the night. The probe droids guarding the perimeter must have been deactivated by some kind of ion weaponry, because the rebels slipped in undetected. After blowing the thermal detonator storage containers to pieces, they had started killing the imperials. Jared remembered killing a few rebels, maybe 4 of them, before he took a rifle stock to the forehead.

"Climb on up, we'll give you a lift to the FOB for a briefing on the situation." Jared slid his helmet on. The familiar snug feeling of the cushioning around his head. He tapped the small button on the side of the helmet and the HUD lit up. He had zero connection to the imperial communication network. The communication pack in his helmet must have been damaged in the fighting.

The walker knelt down, moving the cabin closer to the ground. Jared jumped up and grabbed the small hand-hold, and they set off through the forest.


End file.
